FMQB is a day early for your brief reading enjoyment while trying to avoid family members. I will throw a few facts out about each 3 games for you to impress your friends, even for the most casual of football watchers!

Game 1:

Vikings vs. Lions: The two teams are tied in the division, with Detroit currently holding the tiebreaker. Minnesota has lost 4 of it’s last 5 while Detroit has won 5 of it’s last 6. The Bears are the only team who have beaten both the Vikes and Lions. If the Lions win, they will be in sole possession of 1st place; a full game up on the Vikings and holding the tiebreaker with only 5 games left.

Game 2:

Redskins vs. Cowboys: The Cowboys are on a 9 game winning streak, and the Redskins are 6-1-1 in their last 8 games. Their only losses have come from all Thanksgiving teams; Cowboys, Lions and Steelers. Kirk Cousins is 3rd in the league in passing yards, while Dak Prescott is 3rd in the league in passer rating.

Game 3:

Steelers vs. Colts: After starting strong, the Steelers have lost 4 of 5 and their win was against the Browns. The Colts have had a couple impressive wins against the surging Titans and at Green Bay, but Andrew Luck’s status is in question which would severely hamper the game. If Andrew Luck is out, people in tryptophan comas may not be missing much…

Quick Hits: Teams we Don’t usually talk about:

The Chiefs suffered only their 3rd loss in their last 20 regular season games

The Dolphins and Giants have both won 5 in a row.

The Buccaneers are also only a game out of 1st place, and have road wins at Atlanta and at Kansas City

Stat of the Week:

The 6 highest scoring teams this year are the Falcons, Chargers, Cowboys, Saints, Titans, and Raiders. None of which made the playoffs last year

Coworker Stat of the Week #2:

Kickers are 87% on XPs this year, while 2pt conversions are 36/67, 53%. Tell me again why teams don’t go for 2pts every time? Except the Titans, who are 0/4 on 2pt conversions, while 29/31 (94%) on XPs…Thanks Mickey! With that logic, currently 635 points were scored after TD’s this year. But if every team went for 2 pts, that number would climb to a whopping 756 points!

Quote of the Week:

“And Kaepernick has some speed! Not weighted down by that “I Voted” sticker- CBS Announcer

For the Record:

Aaron Rodgers has 25 TD’s vs 7 INT’s, yet the Packers are 4-6. Perhaps that’s proof that it’s not his fault. However the season is likely over with 2 teams with a 2 game lead over the Packers.

You can go to a Browns game for only $6, but you’ll have to pay between $25-50 for parking. It’s literally more expensive for your car to go to a Browns game than for you!!!

The NFC East and AFC West are hands down the 2 most competitive divisions out there.

Jared Goff didn’t lose the game for the Rams. He didn’t win it though either.

The handoff, then throw from the WR to the QB never works. But it did Sunday

The Extra Point Rule Change is Awesome!

Kickers missed 12 extra points on Sunday. Blasting by the old record of 8 in one day. Keep in mind that in 2014, the league missed 8 all year! Only 3 of these were actually blocked, the other 9 were flat out missed. I have heard people saying that this is an embarrassment to both kickers and the league, but this play has become “useful” again. Hands down the best rule change the NFL has made in the last decade.

Instant Replay on the Otherhand…

Something has to be done about the officiating, or instant replay. I hate being that guy who complains about the refs, but we’ve seen blatant calls or things that could have been reviewed closer that is costing teams wins. Houston had 2 blown calls, 1 on replay which was obviously a 1st down. Either one changes the game in their favor. You had the Saints miss out on a very likely out of bounds step

If the Playoffs Started Today:

Oakland and Dallas would have home field advantage, despite combining to go 11-21 last year.

Osweiler would have a home re-match against his hated Broncos

There would be 3 AFC West and 3 NFC East teams in the playoffs

The Lions and Texans would host a playoff game

The Browns are now 0-8 since Terrell Pryor suggested the team could win out

“And with the 4th pick of the 2016 NFL Draft, Jerry Jones and the Cowboys select, in their best ET impression, Ezekiel Elllliiiiooootttt.” Sorry for the cheesy line, just had to tie this article in with the picture. Ezekiel Elliot is out of this world! Not only is he leading the Rookie of the Year, I can legitimately see Ezekiel Elliot as leading the MVP race right now. He has 1000 yards through 9 games, 10 TD’s (including single-handedly winning Sunday’s game). Only other rookie who has won MVP (and Rookie of the year of course) was Hall of Famer Earl Campbell in 1978. Only Eric Dickerson and Adrian Peterson had more yards than Elliot does through their first 9 games.

Game of the Year #1:

We had a pair of Super Bowl rematches this week, both of which ended up being the most entertaining football we’ve seen so far. The Cowboys Magical Season continued with an all out slugfest against the Steelers. There were six 2 point conversions attempted in this game, and 7 lead changes. Dak went out there and answered every single time the Steelers took the lead. The crazy back and forth yielded a fake spike for a TD (which rarely work), and then a 32 yard game winning TD run with only 9 seconds left! One thing I noticed from this game, granted you could argue that Elliott won it for them with his 114 yard 2 TD day. But they’re holding nothing back from Prescott. And even so, he’s not merely managing these games, he’s putting them in position to win every single time; more often than not he’s leading them to wins.

Week 9 indicates the halfway point in the NFL, with most teams playing 8 games (minus the small handful who haven’t had their Bye’s yet). There is still plenty of season left, but some teams have pulled away from the pack while others are already faltering. Either way, a picture has begun to be painted. It’s very refreshing to see a bit of parody in the NFL, with a few teams we haven’t seen in the playoffs in awhile/constistently (Cowboys, Raiders, Falcons, Giants, Vikings, etc.). Before we get too excited though, my halfway Super Bowl prediction is Patriots Seahawks.

Oakland is Legit:

I think the reason I keep saying this is because I’m just so shocked to say it. They’ve had 15 years of terrible football, so it’s fun to see them back. Either way, they just dismantled the supposedly staunch Denver D. They rushed for 218 yds, with 3 rushing TD’s. This team has good QB play, a strong run attack, and good defense. That’s the recipe for playoff success, and it could be interesting to see what they’re like in January.

Richard Sherman rant:

Richard Sherman is probably the most polarizing figure in the NFL. This typically means that a person either loves him or hate him, but somehow he has become a person that you can flip flop your own emotions on him several times. Watching him speak, press conferences, or even reading his blog; he’s one of the most well spoken and intelligent people out there. You have to respect him for that, he’s a very intelligent guy and a true spokesperson for the NFL. But then somehow he gets onto the field, and turns into a dirty cocky player that everybody can hate. He completely crushed the Bills kicker at the end of the 1st half, zero chance he was going for the ball.

Seahawks Skirting the Rules:

While we’re on the subject, doesn’t it seem like there have been a lot of very goofy endings of games mainly resulting in referee judgement calls? Every single one of them goes in favor of the Seahawks. You had the Fail Mary, granted that was a few years back now. Then you had the Monday night game where the ball was batted out of the back of the endzone for a safety. Then the Pass Interference call against the Falcons, and there were several in the Jets game too. Now you had this game with the refs literally blowing 4 calls in a short sequence. How does this keep happening to this one team?!?! The thing that makes it worse is that Pete Carroll, Russell Wilson, and Richard Sherman have a nonchalant attitude about each one…. “I didn’t see a flag there” or “oops, I guess I was offsides.”

The fact that these refs aren’t being disciplined, or that somebody in New York didn’t stop it is beyond me (they had 1 game to watch). The refs blew the roughing the kicker call, then said that Carpenter had to leave for a play since the trainers came out (way to punish a team for player safety concerns), then they screwed up whether the kicking ball should be in or not, and finally they hovered over the ball with the playclock running only to leave with 2 second left on the playclock. Of course there’s a delay of game at that juncture, it should have been called on the refs!

Stolen Stat of the Week:

In each of Detroit’s 5 wins, they have trailed in the final 90 seconds of regulation

Stat of the Week #2:

Dallas and Oakland are a combined 9-0 on the road, neither team made the playoffs last year

Stolen Stat of the Week #3:

Eli Manning is quietly sneaking up into the conversation of All-Timers. His 2nd Super Bowl essentially made him a lock for the Hall of Fame, but his other numbers are removing any question mark about it. Manning has had 202 straight starts (that’s 3rd most all time). He’s 9th on the list for most passing yards, and 7th for most TD’s!

Stat of the Week #4:

Proof the game is changing? 7 of the top 16 QB’s in regards to most passing TD’s in NFL history, are still actively playing the game. Jay Cutler of all people has more TD passes than 14 Hall of Fame QB’s!!!

Stat of the Week #5:

At 6-3, the Broncos are in 3rd place in their division, there’s only 2 other divisions in football where they wouldn’t be in 1st place.

Stat of the Week #6:

The Saints started 0-3, and are suddenly in 2nd place in their division after winning 4 of 5.

Stat of the Week #7:

Blair Walsh, leads the league with 3 missed extra points, and is 75% for field goals (26th in the league)

Stat of the Week #8:

The Cowboys 7 game winning streak is the longest in team history since 2007

Stat of the Week #9:

The 49ers are the 1st team in NFL history to allow 7 straight 100 yard rushers. I find this unbelievable, especially since the age of running backs is over. But surprised the old record was 6, when literally some crappy defense legitimately had a chance to see Eric Dickerson, Barry Sanders, and Emmitt Smith within a timeframe like that. The other thing I find unbelievable is that it wasn’t 4 years ago when the 49ers nearly went an entire season without giving up a rushing TD! Very quick fall for that team.

Poor Timeout Management:

The Bumbling Browns started the game with 12 players on the field, and had to use a timeout the first play of scrimmage (first team in 5 years to do so). Stupid mistakes are a reason teams like this go winless.

The 2nd mistake also cost the Vikings a win. Down 4, they led an impressive TD drive in the waning seconds of the game. But they egregiously called a timeout WAY too early in the final drive. Getting to the 1 yard line on 3rd down, you literally only have 2 plays left in the game. For arguments sake, let’s say you’re mindful of a 10 second runoff, or a defensive penalty that runs time off the clock. But with 2 plays that’s rare, and either way let it tick down to 15 or 16 seconds. Instead they called one at 27 seconds left, literally ensuring that the Lions would get the ball for a couple plays. Sure enough, the Vikings scored the next play, and gave Detroit 23 seconds. Sure, it’s improbable to get into Field Goal range and spike the ball. But it’s also plenty of time to do it, why not make it impossible for them to win? That one’s on the coaches.

Quick Hits:

I don’t see a Win in the Browns future…anywhere

I can’t believe Roethlisberger played this week, 3 weeks after a torn meniscus (same injury that cost Adrian Peterson the season)

The Cowboys are 7-1, and only play 1 team above .500 down the stretch. That team is the quickly deflating Vikings

The Dolphins have quietly won 3 in a row, the Steelers and Vikings have both lost 3 in a row

Carson Wentz has turned into an INT machine since his nearly record breaking start. Well not really, but he’s had an INT in 3 straight games; and both of his 2 INT games came on back to back drives.

Dang, Jimmy Graham finally showed up in Seattle! Of course I played against him in Fantasy, being up 20 felt pretty good until halftime

Halfway- Teams to Watch:

Don’t be surprised if the Giants start making a run, similar to their Wild Card Super Bowl runs

Same with the Chiefs, they’re the quietist 6-2 team in history it seems

I see the Lions winning the NFC North, and the Saints sneaking into the mix as well

Quote of the Week:

“If I didn’t want to get hit, I’d be playing Tennis” Russell Wilson, reacting to Cam Newton’s remarks about not feeling safe. Bravo!

The Cubs victory parade was the 7th largest gathering in human history! 5 million people showed up. Other events in the top 10 include pilgrimages, high end funerals, and a Rod Stewart concert. What?!?!

Game of the Week:

Sunday Night Football hit another jackpot with Seattle at New England. Should be an awesome rematch of the Super Bowl 2 years ago.

It’s hard for me to say it, but the best QB in the league is Tom Brady; which is amazing at 39 years old. I think he even gets put into the MVP race despite the fact that he’ll only play ¾ of the games any other QB plays. He has a whopping 133.9 passer rating, is still on pace for nearly 4000 yards (despite missing 4 games), 12 TD’s and 0 INT’s. Just insane numbers to start the season.

Tie

Ties are a rarity, so much in fact that many NFL players don’t know that games can end in a tie. From 1974 to 2008, there were only 17 ties; exactly 1 tie every 2 years. But there has been a bit of an influx recently, which could be equated to the new OT rules that each team possesses the ball (barring a TD). There have been 5 ties in the past 4 years. Believe it or not, with only 32 ties since 1974, this is the 2nd time in that span that ties have come in back to back weeks. While this is an improvement from 1920 when there were 17 ties, the NFL needs to figure out a way to find a winner. Hockey did it, and 3 on 3 OT and the Shootout are the most exciting parts of the game. My suggestion is to play their 15 minute overtime. If there’s no winner, trot the kickers out to the 35 yard line and have them kick. If they both make it, back it up to the 40…and so on until one misses. It’s going to come down to a kick anyway, so why not give it to the kickers. But now 4 teams are X-X-1, which is just stupid.

Ironically, all 4 teams (Ari, Sea, Cin, and Was) made the playoffs last year. But the ties actually hurt their records, with only 1 team (Seattle) actually sitting in a playoff spot right now.

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About FMQB

FMQB is a blog for football fans, by a football fan. Each week I try to show some insights into several games and interesting statistics while also bringing humor to the mix. Join me for some fun by taking a quick break every week to re-live the best game in the world.